Method of making clasps



May 29, 1928.

A FRICKER METHOD OF MAKING CLASPS Filed March 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l May-29, 1928. 1,671,107

A. FRICKER METHOD OF MAKING CLASPS Filed March 1, 192B 2 Sheets -Sheet 2 ,5 mn zm fir WYW Patented May 29, 1928* A THONY FRIQKER;1 OF LAKEWOOD, 01110..

ME'IKQD -Oif,MAKING, oLAsrs;

ep ncandnlfiled Mer'oh 1, 1922;, serial m. 549,111.

The inventionmin s; to method of fikl ig'ZQMSP suchres zewus d r n po-s rarily bindlng together relatively th ckmasisesiiofip p she ts, fi e; 'i (like, P o. 1 hicknesses Of 11i! h'e r;- u her to ore-been m de iQm:$ l be "mg the r p i 1SlmP B emner nei m m thedwh ch o On y o; impart-i o e el the. eq-ui ite f: Pm Si0 i*- b es ;:l kr q i i or spoi' lithe finished-surface ot. the steel dun his the emper nempe tie he zpr ent nv -0 as;

for its object to ip w e'a-n; imp ov d me ho t; n a: sleep; of pe i l; form, the lesp gg, rms of;,"\7vh1cl-1w are so; formed! and one so disposed relative to the joining heed that 1 the. clasp has maximum inherent springtension with itfifia'rms 1yingtr-uly perell'el' upto its maxiopen}position; and which method en eem ximum: ns n; to wgiyen to 1 the enmsend eiyoids injury or morning thereof by tempering or other operations;

Further-obj ects of the invention; are in pert-obvious and inpartwill appear more in detail ihereinefter.

In the dneWings Fig 1' represents an; edge view not 3x16135111) i formedecconding to my improved nethod'; Fig}; 2;is a perspective view ther'eofi; Figs. 3; Land 5fl-zillustratetsuccessive operetion's .ofiithe forming dieseFig- 6 illustrates the operation of the shaping dies; Fig 7 is; e detail front vie w of k the ,t forming dies-c; Rig-. 8;is-

section theneot on-;theline 8-8 Fig? and Iiigs 9 andz lQ are views tretjing theshaping. dies. 7 I

As illustrated in FigsL-1 end; 2-, the ;rc lasp, which torn-is the. subj eet n attei; ,of qa; copen dinggepplieetion' filed October; 19 2 2 Seriel NO-a 596,832-ds niade iiront-a .singletstriploif steelot any suitablewidth-and;length one clespgotsatisfactory fern beingg about six 'incheslong-nn-d n nde fron a strip approxi- .'.n1ete1y-, tlii'eeqn-arters of, an. inch! Wide.

The head of: the clasp, indicated; generally zit l, is' inthe fo 'ne;;0t a; loop tor eyeljoininrg the two 3111115 2;;WlLlClLllQ parallel anchin ont htr vee weep-ramble:perti n flf th eng hxdn h m e forniet eneoi the-chenil e memen -i mpar nhe t: ension thereto uch hat. e normal iml itioneo e- 1 ni ns I they, could pess-eeeh iother would bQdtS ind-icetedby thedotted lines, Fig. 5. 'lhis efl'ectis secured -in\, the ,present clasp by formingthe eye with two side bends 3 andien end or'center bend 4, said bends being put into themeteloithe tempered strip so; that subsequent tenilpering is unnecessary Q According to the 5 present invention these bends are formed in a neennen to over-bend the material, or in otheravoids, to ,put into the claspmore-initial; tension then is neces-r sary eiiter which one or more of-the bends are straightened to teke out apart the tension 1 and leave just the amount: necessary to qive the arms sufficient resiliency and holdingebility end also-keeping them paralllel in the vaniouspositions of the clasp upto full; open, position With its arms about en inchepert; V

Referring to Figs.g7 ancl, 8, these views illustrate the, dies for forming. the side and end bends. in the head. These, dies n w be 015 anysuitable character, butesillusti'eted comprise a, female die block 5 having e shallow recess (Site receive the blank strip 7, which at one edge is inoved elonge giiiding shoulden 8v into. position with' the proper point inits length ebov'el a deep'nrecessvfi which has its. side Wit-11810 inclined to" each other.; lVith the lower die bloclicooperates a' verticallyl movable; upper punch block 11, the inele punch .Lporti.on. ,l2 of which is of tapered form to enter the recessfflzbnt with itszlower portion curved on e sinoothf arc, as at 12?, to avoid. sharpi corners or] angles. The lolizinllz strip is subjected to t'he',successive ben dinggsteps' illustrated .in Figs. 3', 4L- a.-nd. ,5., The .iir'ststep; indicated in Fig. 3, consists in forn in-g onefof thesidebends-FB by pushing the. blink strip dow nuinto the recess 9 ,Wi tl11 the1 niale. die 12. This" step leeyesIthevtwo arms t-h us formed bent" at approximately right angles to eachjo th'er. he -.second,step 'consists'iin forming the 0pposite side" bend 3, as shown inFig'I tlie effect of this step being to bend the tn b arms of the clasp into engegingcontaet with eneh 'other but WithoutmeteiielZtensioW and particularly Without sufficient tension to holdpepers-vbetween' thel n. In the} third step,-, represented in, Rig: 5, the end bend- 4 is; fe gned {between vtl;i e; two side This produeee a mo e t p n inet e w t ether of hes pe'itieneet the arms l selyadjacent to the loop or eye 1 but without any tendency of the free ends of the arms to become separated as sometimes occurs with clasps formed by other methods. The three bending steps therefore materially close the eye 1 and produce proper relation between the two arms of the clasp.

Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate the final shaping dies, which comprise a female die 13 with a shallow curved recess 14; to cooperate with the curved lower face of the male die mom her 15 carried by a block 16. Member 15 extends fromone side of the block 16 so that it can be introduced into the opening in the eye, as shown in Fig. 6, and by then forcing the two dies together a portion of the bend is taken out of the end bend 4C. This step really merely changes the shape of the end hend, flattening out its curve and removing some of the tension from the two arms of the clasp. If desired, the same dies 13, 15 may be used for partly straightening the side bends, although this is not essential.

The finished clasp has an eye or loop of pleasing form andwith material gripping tension between its two arms. It can be clasped abouta thick mass of papers with a good holding quality or ability throughout the length of the arms. At the same time the method provides a clasp which may be made from steel strips so that subsequent tempering operations are unnecessary.

What I claim is:

1. The method of forming a metal clasp consisting in subjecting an intermediate portion of a blank metal strip to the action of reciprocating bending means so as to thrice bend said intermediate portion at three adjacent points, the outer two bends bringing the endportions of the strip into forcible engagement throughout an appreciable part of their length and the intermediate bend effecting more forcible engagement of said end portions.

2. The method of forming a metal clasp consisting in subjecting a plurality of times an intermediate portion of a blank metal strip to the action. of reciprocating bending means so as to thrice bend said interniedi- .ate portion at three adjacent points, the

outer two bends bringing the end portions of the strip into forcible engagement throughout an appreciable part of their length and the intermediate bend effecting more forcible engagement of said end portions.v

3. The method of forming a metal clasp consisting in subjecting a plurality of times an intermediate portion of blank metal strip to the action of a single reciprocating bending member so as to thrice bend said intermediate portion at three adjacent points, the outer two bends bringing the end portions of the strip into forcible engagement throughout an appreciable part of their length and the intermediate bend effecting more forcible engagement of said end portions.

l. The method of forming a metal clasp consisting in subjecting three times an intermedi ate portion of a blank metal strip to the action of a single reciprocating bending member so as to thrice bend said intermediate portion at three adjacent points, the outer two bends bringing the ends portions of the strip into forcible engagement throughout an. appreciable part of their length and the intermediate bend effecting more forcible engagement of said. end'portions.

5. The method of forn'iinga metal clasp consisting in subjecting a plurality of times an intermediate portion of a blank metal strip to the action of reciprocating bending means so as tothrice bendsaid intermediate portion at three adjacent points, the outer two bends bringing the end portions of the strip into forcible engagement throughout an appreciable part of their length and the intermediate bend effecting more forcible engagement of said end portions, and then partially straightening one of said bends so as to cause the end portions of said strip to less forcibly engage each other.

6. The method of forming a metal clasp consisting in subjectinga plurality of times anintermediate portion of a blank metal strip to the action ofreciprocating bending means so as to thrice bend said intermediate portion at three adjacent points, the outer two bends bringing the end portions of the strip into forcible engagement throughout an appreciable part of their length and the intermediate bend effecting more forcible engagement of said end portions, and then partially straightening the intermediate bend so as to cause the end portions of said strip to less forcibly engage each other.

7. The method of forming a metal clasp consisting in subjecting a plurality of times an intermediate portion of ablank metal strip to the action of reciprocating bending means so as to thricebend said intermediate portion at three adjacent points, the outer two bends bringingthe end portions of the strip into forcible engagement throughout an appreciable part of their length and the lntermediate bend. effecting more forcible engagement of said end portions and then subjecting one of said bends to the action of a single reciprocating bending member so as to partially straighten said bend and thereby cause the end portions of the strip to less forcibly engage each otherc 8. The method of forming a metal clasp consisting in subjecting a plurality of times an intermediate portion of a blank metal strlp to the action of reciprocating bendmg means so as to thrice bend said intermw diate portion at three adjacent points, the outer two bends bringing the end portions of the strip into forcible engagement throughout an appreciable part of their length and the intermediate bend effecting more forcible engagement of said end portions and then subjecting the intermediate bend to the action of a single reciprocating bending member so as to partially straighten said bend and thereby cause the end porlo tions of the strip to less forcibly engage each 1 other.

In testimony whereof I hereby affix my signature.

ANTHONY FRICKER. I 

